The thought of making crackers at home always seemed an outrageous and deeply mysterious act destined for culinary daredevils. In fact, I’ve only met one person in my life who has EVER made crackers at home and it just doesn’t count because he’s nothing short of a naturally gifted, flat-out sparkling ball of brilliance in the kitchen (yes, JC, I’m talking about you again).

If I have to be honest, our super stylish (but of course) French rolling pin sits in its drawer, a lonely and often forgotten object. It must have once fantasized about making golden, light-as-air pie crusts wafting heavenly aromas throughout the house, but instead was forced to amuse itself with an occasional trip out of the drawer to bash toasted hazelnuts. On more adventurous days our French rolling pin has been assigned the task of pummelling a stick of butter to within an eighth of an inch of its life in order to bring it to room temperature faster, but any non-pugilistic activities have eluded it until now.

There is only one person in this world capable of inspiring me to give our rolling pin an honest day’s work. If you don’t know him yet, don’t fret. You soon will. I believe the chef in question will soon launch an all-out British invasion into American kitchens. That is, if our home is any indication. Israeli-born chef Yotam Ottolenghi is rocking the foundations of our very own Plumb Cottage with his ridiculously delicious, ultra vibrant, passionate cooking. Today’s little flatbread crackers were inspired by one of his masterful recipes.

K&L: Please make sure you have a food scale at home before you make these crispy crackers. Measuring flour by weight is the only way to go when baking.

Place all of the ingredients except the Maldon salt in a stand mixer equipped with a dough hook. Work the mixture until it forms a firm dough (you may have to take it out and knead it on the counter for a bit as well; the dough is fairly dry). Roll it into a ball and cover it with plastic wrap. Place it in the refrigerator to rest for one hour.

Heat the oven to 425 degrees. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and have a bowl of flour handy for rolling it out. Cut off one inch chunks of dough (roughly the size of a walnut) and roll each piece out as thinly as humanly possible with your stylish French rolling pin, dusting with plenty of flour as you go. They should be long and practically paper thin when you’re done.

Place the rolled out dough on a cookie sheet lined with a Silpat mat (or parchment paper). Brush the top of the crackers with good olive oil and then sprinkle on the Maldon salt. Bake for approximately 6-8 minutes, until crisp and golden. Cool to room temperature and store in a sealed container.

* optional; you can use any herbs or seeds you enjoy.

K&L: We use Isole e Olena olive oil from Tuscany to make these crackers really special.